Reminded of Billy Beane ...

... there are a number of us who feel basketball is overdue for the same stats revolution that swept through baseball ... and in fact that it has already happened, with San Antonio being the best example ... but it works for SA because most teams are stuck in the stone age.

If Masai is a believer in advanced stats, and feels fully in control (part of the negotiation process), then it would make total sense to sweep out the 'stone age' scouts ('X has so much athleticism, we can't pass him up') and bring in all fresh blood ('look at his shooting percentage, not his points'). I'm thinking Billy Beane ... let's see the results.

Nuggets fans dislike their coach, that's all I need to know, to not want him. Too many lessons proved me right, that if a person isn't welcomed in his team by the fans, then he won't be any better in TO.

I get it. I just think if your GM you make the effort to learn. It's lazy for a GM to draft a Nigerian player because he knows him.

Unless the fact that he knows him means that he is the only one that actually has an appreciation for how good he is. We know it is still possible for talent to fly under the radar in the NCAA. Even more so on the African continent.

. And even his second stint in GSW, the team that made the playoffs as underdogs, then won 48 games the next year and missed them, was actually quite talented (B. Davis, Harrington, J-RIch, Stephen Jackson, Monta Ellis...from who I can remember).

"We only have one rule on this team. What is that rule? E.L.E. That's right's, E.L.E, and what does E.L.E. stand for? EVERYBODY LOVE EVERYBODY. Right there up on the wall, because this isn't just a basketball team, this is a lifestyle. ~ Jackie Moon

Yeah, also it should be noted that Stefanski probably didn't want to stay. He took a demotion coming to Toronto since he was the GM in Philly. I'm pretty sure he was hoping to get the GM job after BC. He'll probably go looking for a situation where he's either GM, or like in Toronto, 2nd in command so he's one step away from being in control.

Well, not really a demotion. The man was fired from Philly, so I would say that from unemployed to Asst. GM is a bit promotion, wouldn't you?

A lot of people were worried, myself included, that him coming in with a lot of the close relationships would mean more of the same!

Boy were a lot of us, myself included, WRONG!

It would seem Ujiri is actually having the opposite effect. Maybe he knows exactly who needs to go and is going to do that.

How Jim Kelly lasted this long, I"ll never know, but with him gone it looks like there is a real changing of the guard.

What didn't you like about Raptors scouting?

I won't argue that it was weird that they went against pretty much every draft prediction for the past couple of years. But at the same time I'm not going to sit here and say they were bad picks, far from it.

Personally I thought our scouting sucked. I guess AA is an exception. I also love the fact Ujiri made the very difficult Carmelo trade. Getting rid of Bargs (and getting something in return) is going to be challenging.

I won't argue that it was weird that they went against pretty much every draft prediction for the past couple of years. But at the same time I'm not going to sit here and say they were bad picks, far from it.

Jim Kelly has been around since the purple and cartoon dinosaurs.

He was here before BC.

He was on hand for some of the biggest draft day f*ck ups of all time:

DeRozan versus so many point guards in 2009
Joey Graham vs. Grangers in 2005
Rafael Araujo vs. Igoudala in 2004

I can live with DeRozan pick - it wasn't bad by any stretch. However in 2004 and 2005 I was literally screaming at the TV.

Bottom line is I am glad to see him gone and a lot of the old guard shown the door. It smells like spring at MLSE.

I did a google search trying to found out how long Jim Kelly has been with the Raps...since the beginning as a talent evaluator ...and I found this 2 year old thread as one of the first results, freakin hilarious. Which is also where I got the answer since it had a link to a Star article. The thread is about these 2 guys, Kelly and Gherardini, possibly having their jobs changed in some way.

Gheradini has done a lot for Basketball Canada. For all his faults I can't hate on that. Kelly on the other hand...he's the main assessor of talent we have... his list of misses is brutal. He's needed to retire for some time. As selfish as it sounds, I would have never let Masai go. I would have promoted him to GM. I think all this shuffling is cosmetic and too late. BC had the right guy here and now talk of bringing in a GM to handle the President role is lip service.